Chapter 3 - First Destination
“We’re almost at the city.”
Hearing Text’s words, Mary almost collapsed in relief. Having traveled for the past few days with no signs of civilization in sight, she was in dire need of food and shelter. Trying her best to make do with monster-infested woods was draining on her mental state, especially since she had to resort to hunting and foraging to get by.
“So this is the first city, huh?”
“Correct,” Text replied. “Don’t forget that it’ll be harder to converse once we’re inside. Since you’re the only one who can hear my voice, you’ll stand out if it appears as if you’re talking to yourself.”
Mary nodded. Since she was contracted to him, it was possible for her to perceive his existence. But to others, it would be impossible to even tell if Text was real or not. If she was careless, Mary might be considered delusional and cause unneeded misunderstandings with those she interacts with.
“I’m guessing that Apostles are pretty rare, huh?”
It took a moment for Text to reply. “To be honest, Apostles used to be more common in the past. But when the bird known as Wren created this world, he separated the outer world from this one and made it so that no otherworldly beings could make contracts with the inhabitants of this world. Nowadays, the only ones that are still around are those that are contracted to the Five Gods.”
That caused her to freeze in her tracks. “Hold on, are you telling me that the only other Apostles are connected to the deities of this world?”
Wouldn’t that mean that there was literally only a handful of them in total? Excluding her, that meant that there had to be exactly five Apostles who were blessed by the Five Gods of Wren.
Text seemed to read her thoughts. “If you’re worried about your status as an Apostle drawing unwanted attention, don’t worry. At most, they might suspect that you’re a Spirit Contractor instead. It’s basically a similar role to an Apostle, only they form a pact with a spirit instead of a god.”
“Are you saying that you’re a god?”
“I wouldn’t classify myself as such, but I suppose I’m close enough to a god that people would call me one. Or rather, I used to be. I won’t go into the details since that requires a lot of context that’s difficult to explain, but you can say I committed self-deicide and lost all my power.”
“Either way, that means that you’re some kind of fallen god then?”
“Again, I don’t consider myself one. Rather, I am nothing more than a being that goes by the name [Text]. That is all you should care about.”
He refused to say anything else afterward, and Mary had no choice but to leave that matter alone for now and concentrate on the current situation.
The name [Sun City] was displayed on a large plaque hanging above the large gates allowing visitors and travelers into the city. The whole place was surrounded by large imposing walls, a defense measure to protect its inhabitants from the hordes of monsters roaming outside. Several guards were posted at the entrance, interacting with guests and keeping an eye out for danger.
Making sure that her sword was properly sheathed, she boldly walked up to one of the guards that appeared free to converse with.
He noticed her approach. “Greetings traveler, is there something I can do to assist you?”
“Are there any guilds here?”
Taken aback by her abrupt questioning, it took him a second to respond. “A-Ah, yes. We have a branch office of the Library Sect Guild and the Adventurer Guild based in our Sun City. Their headquarters are located in the heart of the city opposite of one another.”
The two names meant nothing to her, but out of the two she leaned toward going to the Library Sect since it sounded like a place that would have more knowledge that might help her.
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Thanking the guard and passing through the gates leading into the city, she came face to face with the sight of a bustling street filled with many people wandering about. It was the first time Mary had ever encountered such a large number of people, so the suddenness of the situation made her freeze in place.
“Calm down,” Text’s voice echoed. “Don’t forget that I’m here with you. Take a moment to relax before you make your next move.”
She took his advice and began taking deep breaths. Her anxiety began to quell until she found herself able to relax once again.
“While I’m not aware of the exact population of Sun City, I can easily guess that it numbers in the tens of thousands. Since this isn’t even the main city, you’ll have to get used to seeing this many people if you plan on traveling to the capitol later.”
Tens of thousands. That was a number that she was incapable of picturing. Her brain could only conjure up an endless sea of people, a representation of the city’s population that was beyond her comprehension.
“Surely with this many people here, there’s got to be someone who might be able to help me find a clue to my past?”
“Who knows? But I wouldn’t get my hopes up if I were you. The chances of running into someone like that are slim, and who knows whether or not we’ll be lucky enough to encounter them.”
Despite his words, Mary kept that small piece of hope tucked away in her heart. Making her way deeper into the city, she passed by large buildings and crossed well paved roads along the way.
Meanwhile, Text continued to lecture her as she walked. “From what little I know, the Library Sect is an organization that is affiliated with the great Academies of each nation. Unlike regular guilds, the Library Sect maintains a neutral position in politics and conflict in order to pursue their goal of seeking all forms of knowledge and sharing it with all who desire it.”
“Sounds admirable.”
“Most people share the same opinion, which is why they mainly rely on public support and gratuity to maintain operations. While they might not be able to gain access to important knowledge that other guilds and factions try to hoard for themselves, it is still a great starting point to learn more about the world.”
“You seem to know a lot already though.”
“My knowledge might be outdated by a few hundred years or so, which is why I’d prefer it if you did your own research.”
“Exactly how old are you?”
“I predate this world [Wren], which should be sufficient enough of an answer.”
On that revealing note, Mary found herself approaching two large buildings with a grand architecture positioned across from one another in a circular plaza. Glancing at the names of each building, she found the plaque that stated it was the [Library Sect Headquarters] and began approaching it.
Inside the building, there was a receptionist desk with several workers interacting with other guests. Seeing that they were busy and that you could simply walk past them without being stopped, Mary continued on her way until she made her way towards rows of shelves filled to the brim with books.
“Now, where do I start?”
“To be honest, it would be best to find some kind of database or terminal to search up specific information.”
“Terminal?”
“You see that monitor to your right?” Mary turned her head in the direction Text was referring to and saw a strange looking device sitting on a counter. “That appears to be for public access. Try seeing if you can find any texts on the history of this world.”
Shrugging to herself, she followed his advice and approached the monitor with a holographic keyboard shining in front of it. It took her a second to figure out how to use the terminal, but Text continued to guide her through the process of looking up information until they pulled up a certain page.
“Huh, it looks like you can just access a digital version instead.”
“Anything in particular I should read up on?”
“I suppose…” Text seemed to ponder his next words. “Can you please try looking up the terms [Planet Earth] and narrate what information they have about it for me.”
“Sure.” Mary complied and found a related passage before beginning to read it aloud. “The former planet Earth is supposedly one of the many worlds that originated from the divine body of water before the creator bird Wren introduced chaos and disorder into existence. In the year 20XX of the Gregorian calendar, the neighboring planets Earth and Mars went to war as the first Human-Demon Conflict began, the inciting incident caused by one of the Demon Lords of the Red Planet named Lord Lustra. When the world [Wren] was created, the two planets were on the brink of ruin after centuries of war against each other. The remaining denizens all migrated to Wren before their respective planets perished in the final annihilation event. It is said that at least eighty percent of Wren’s current population of humanity and demonkind are descended from these two planets.”
“...”
His silence unnerved her. “Is there a reason why you wanted me to look this up?”
“I have a theory that your past is related to Earth,” Text replied. “It has to do with someone I used to know, but I suppose there’s not much information for us to go off for me to reach a proper conclusion.”
“Someone you used to know?”
“A former Apostle of mine,” Text admitted. “Or well, I suppose that term only loosely describes our relationship. Anyway, it doesn’t matter anymore. I doubt the Library Sect will have the answers to what I’m interested in finding out, so we should just focus on learning more about this world instead.”
It was clear to her that he wanted to move on from the conversation, so Mary switched pages and began reading up more about anything she could find about the Magic Nation and this world.